LONDON (Reuters) ¿ Near record oil prices are expected to keep most investors keen, even though one of the Dutch pension funds that helped to lead an inrush of financial players is reviewing its exposure.

ABP, one of the world's largest pension funds, last week said it might reduce its holdings in oil assets in favour of other commodities. ID:nL19540428

Other investors have been reviewing the way they buy into energy, but for the majority there is still potential in a direct approach.

"We have just seen some great short-term price movement, reducing exposure might be a sensible short term move." said Mark Mathias, chief executive of commodity fund manager Dawnay Day Quantum. "However, given the fundamentals I would not be underweight oil."

A number of big pension funds have taken the plunge into commodities and energy since around 2004 to diversify portfolios, boost returns and hedge against inflation.

In Europe, Dutch pension funds were at the forefront of the shift. Last year, Hermes, Britain's largest private sector fund and the biggest US pension fund CalPERS also moved into commodities.

In total, some $100 billion of institutional money is invested in commodities, according to estimates from Barclays Capital survey of fund managers in February.

Pension fund investors have traditionally gained exposure to energy via benchmark indexes such as the S&P GSCI, which has around a 70 percent energy weighting.

But the structure of the crude oil futures market, where crude nearby has been cheaper than further forward, has hit returns from the S&P GSCI as index investors have to roll positions forward every month.